The lapse upset City Council members, who said Harrisburg should be eligible for at least $2 million in aid, the amount of flood damage officials have estimated was done to city property. The problem, council said, is Thomspon has not sent them a resolution allowing the process to move forward.

And with the city strapped for cash, the federal aid is needed more than ever, members said. The city’s filing failure does not affect individuals and businesses who had to submit individual requests for flood funding.

“We have a fiscal crisis here in the city, and due to this delay we are now waiting in line behind other municipalities who have gotten their papers in a reasonable amount of time,” said Councilman Brad Koplinski. “It’s disappointing that the administration has not been able to process these papers.”

Muddying the waters further, there appears to be confusion among the mayor’s office and the city solicitor over how Harrisburg must officially apply for aid.

Harrisburg must appoint an “agent” who will work with the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency to obtain federal reimbursement grants to pay for accrued overtime and property damage caused by the flood, PEMA officials said..

PEMA is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to deliver the money to municipalities.

Harrisburg Solicitor Jason Hess said the mayor must name an agent in a resolution for council to approve.

But Thompson’s spokesman Robert Philbin said the mayor doesn’t need to go through council to appoint an agent.

“The solicitor misspoke,” Philbin said.

Either way, Harrisburg has not named an agent yet with PEMA, said Cory Angell, a spokesman for the agency.

Philbin disagreed, saying Thompson named her finance director, Bob Kroboth, as the city’s agent in September.

Maybe so, but PEMA officials are asking council why the city has not named an agent to officially request the funding, Koplinski said.

PEMA knows Harrisburg is going to apply for aid and the city is not in danger of losing the money, but the sooner Harrisburg gets its agent named and its paperwork completed, the sooner the city gets its money, Angell said.

“There certainly is a benefit to [naming an agent and filling out paperwork] rapidly, and we will move along with [the city] as soon as they get that person identified,” Angell said.

The resolution council must approve naming Kroboth as the city’s agent soon will be ready, Hess said, but he but did not give a specific completion date.

Before council’s meeting Tuesday night, Council President Wanda R.D. Williams asked Kroboth why the resolution has not been completed, especially given the city’s finances.

“Seeing as how the city doesn’t have any money, I think that would be a priority,” Williams said.

The administration would have liked to have done it sooner, but matters pertaining to the city’s fiscal crisis have slowed down the process, Kroboth said.

He said the mayor’s department heads have been asked to submit overtime and damage estimates created by the flood to the administration’s grants manager. The figures will be ready by the time the mayor issues a resolution naming the application agent to council, Kroboth said.

Philbin disagreed with all of this and said the mayor is not late in submitting anything. The administration has followed every procedure, attended every meeting and continues to pursue the matter in keeping with regulations and time frames, Philbin said.

Angell said the city’s agent is the person who will work with PEMA to develop worksheets identifying the scope and cost of projects undertaken to repair property damage covered by federal funding. The agent also must prove that employees who worked extra hours due to the flood are eligible for over time, he said.

The aid Harrisburg is eligible to receive does little to affect the city’s operational budget because most of it must be used for property damage work that can’t be done during the wintertime, Kroboth said.

“There is not much we can do during the wintertime,” Kroboth said. “Some of it was overtime reimbursement, but really most of it just is replacement reimbursement.”

City employees and outside contractors are fixing property damage in the city now, however.

For example, workers have begun replacing a set of steps in Riverfront Park near Locust Street that were swept away by the flood.

Councilwoman Susan Brown-Wilson said she wants the administration to provide an itemized list to council for all reimbursement requests. The mayor should have sent a resolution naming an application agent to council by last month, she said.

“January is getting ready to close out, so why isn’t this on our agenda right now?” she said.

Featured Story

Get 'Today's Front Page' in your inbox

This newsletter is sent every morning at 6 a.m. and includes the morning's top stories, a full list of obituaries, links to comics and puzzles and the most recent news, sports and entertainment headlines.

optionalCheck here if you do not want to receive additional email offers and information.See our privacy policy

Thank you for signing up for 'Today's Front Page'

To view and subscribe to any of our other newsletters, please click here.